Movies unlimited

Krissh, Corporate, Golmaal, and Omakara. These are the last four movies I saw (find it appropriate not to mention a certain disastrous sequel to Hera Pheri, which I saw before the release of these movies, in this list) last month, and I must say that this month I have been thoroughly entertained by a variety of movies that have definitely satiated my movie hungry tummy. All these movies have their sore points but I would not want to talk about them today (owe it to my super happy and positive filmi soul).

Let’s talk about Krissh. India’s answer to Hollywood Superhero flicks and a good one to say the least. Complete with great special effects, excellent action sequences topped with Bollywood ishtyle muzik. It was fun to watch Hrithik elevate to a superhero. Shot in swanky locales of Singapore, Rakesh Roshan’s publicity and marketing of the movie were excellent. Hat’s off Rakesh Roshan for attempting to make this kind of movie and doing a good job of it.

Corporate. Not anywhere close to Bhandarkar’s superhit version of the Page 3 life, this movie takes on the inside workings of the corporate world in the country. It depicts the interrelation between politics, corporatism and branding. Though it brings out the super money hungry corporate heads and how these top business men can fool the customers and can go to any extent to sell their product. Bipasha who becomes the scapegoat of the dirty games of corporate big wigs fails to raise her character to a higher level. I enjoyed the shantraj ki chal played by various characters of the movie but my heart went out to the character who was besotted by Bipasha and loses his job in the bargain.

Golmaal. A decent movie which becomes really funny by the presence of really funny guys like Arshad Warsi, Tushar Kappoor, Ajay Devgan and Sharman Joshi. It’s a pleasant change if you have watched the cheesy slapstick attempts at comedy like Phir Hera Pheri and Pyare Mohan (God why, why did I watch these movies?). Tusshar’s incessant utterances of the dumb man’s lingo were hilarious and so were the dialogues mouthed by Arshad and Sharman. Man, these guys have such great comic timing that they can lift a movie lying in the dungeons to mountain tops. Director Rohan Shetty does a good job of this movie remade from the hit Gujarati play Aflatoon.

Omkara. I haven’t read Othello (I know! Shame on me!). So what I will say is without Shakespeare’s great piece of tragedy at the back of my mind. The movie gets you involved. It picks you up from your seat and puts you straight into the UP village where Omkara lives. All the actors fit the part. Vivek, Kareena, Naseer and Konkona make the most of what they have been given. Langda Tyagi alias Saif Ali Khan! He grows on you. You will execrate him and want to kill him with your own hands by the end of the movie. You get a feeling that Vishal has got so involved with Saif’s character that he has failed to breathe life into the character of Omkara. Where is the pathos of someone who in his greatness lets his own complexes and lack of trust get in the way of his love for Dolly? Ajay has done well but you do not see the gradual change in his character as the movie moves ahead. All said and done, Omkara will always remain one step behind Maqbool but you can’t miss this movie if you love cinema. I think I’m going to watch this film again to let it sink. But the movie gets so brutal in the end that it disturbs me.

And yes, I can’t fail to applaud Bharadwaj for the beauty of the last scene. It is a concluding scene that I can never forget and it is sure to haunt me for a long time.

Dear blogspot,

Thank God I've got you back. I thought I'm going to loose you forever. The last few days of separation from you my dear journal have been tough. I would type the blog address in Internet Explorer everyday hoping for you to come back into my life but each time it would end in disappointment. I tried getting in touch with all your friends but I couldn’t get in touch with them either.

I know they needed to beef up security after the blasts but they cannot curb the freedom of expression. They can’t choke you if you want to make your self heard. Are we living in a democracy anymore?

Yes, there are some communal journals within you but instead of blocking all the blogs just focus on these politicians who come out in the open, brainwash people and drive them into communal disharmony. This is taking policing too far.

May be it was mistake. May be they didn’t want to block you completely. Why don’t they monitor the content on the internet constantly instead of blocking you after a terrorist attack has taken place or a tragedy has struck? What about the other times? Do they have to be woken up from stupor by blasting some bombs in their ears?

Those who have eyes shall see.
Those who have the ears shall hear.

Meanwhile I’m just too happy to have you back in my life!

Loss & Spirit

Yesterday I heard the news of the bomblasts. My work in office was over. I was not supposed to cover any of the events that had occured so I headed home. My mind was working over time though. The chain of events that had taken place played in my minds. I was attending several frantic calls and messeges from my loved ones. Through all this, and the traffic on the road and in my mind I made my way home.

The images I saw disturbed me and the reports from my colleagues who were at the hospital shook me. The ambulances and the crowds i encountered on my way home juggled inside. I was sitting, preoccupied when my friend asked, "Have you ever regretted losing something?"

"NO" was my blank reply.

What does material loss mean? People were losing their limbs, their hands, their peace of my mind from the traumatic events they had witnessed, and losing lives as we were going through this mundane conversation. Material loss, including losing stuff that one bought from his or her first salary, gifts from loved ones and things with which a tag of fond memories are attached, they just don't seem to be important at all when you see what people have lost in this world.

No, I don't regret losing anything in my life, because for me the value of the people I love is so much that nothing else comes close. Losing someone I loved the most has taught me that nothing else is as important to me in this world. If people lose their house, or everything that they have earned in their lifetime, they can still pick up the pieces of their shattered dream and build a new life. Material loss is fades when you witness the loss of a person in your life.

What must the blast victims be going through? They have lost their body parts, hearing abilities, their trust, lives of loved ones but they will cope, they will continure to live. The loss though will remain. One will know what loss is when one experiences the true meaning of losing something so valuable that no material can match up to it. The void will remain but life will go on.

The Spirit

Having lived in Mumbai for a good amount of time I can clearly say that the spirit that Mumbai (as cliche as it may sound) has, very few cities in the world have.

Through floods....riots...bomb blasts....it's the people of the city that amaze me. I have experienced the floods and been through the bomb blasts....have heard a hundred experiences apart from my own and have not heard anybody say, ' I was in need of help but i didn't get it.'

Slum dwellers near the railway track came out of their houses to carry the injured people out of the burnt compartments...people who had vehicles..including cars, taxis and riks carried the injured to the hospital...nobody waited for the police..or the ambulance to arrive....they did not get put off by the gore...instead they lifted bodies lying in a pool of blood...staining themselves...and using their resources.

When the mobile phone networks were jammed people offered their phones to each other....when the roads jammed after everybody abandoned the local trains last nite...people came out on the road and distributed water & food to the stranded people...

And the next day people reported to their office, last night's memories giving them more strength to go on the next day. Some may say that people have learnt to live with it...may be..but it still is amazing how the city never sleeps, comes back to it's feet every time it's knocked down. People have big hearts out here. They do not live in their own sweet world, they live as a community and not like snooty self obssessed individuals.

If you experience the real Bombay you would fall in love with this city, and it's sad that this city has had to face so much through all these years and is in such bad shape.

You deserve it!!

He won the golden ball!
I'm so glad he got a second parting gift after the red card he got during the last ten minutes of his last world cup game.
This somehow eases the pain if not erase the wounds from the memory. He deserves it!!



Zizou's Record

With the French national team:
FIFA World Cup Winner: 1998
Appearances: 1998, 2002
European Championship Winner: 2000
Appearances: 1996, 2000, 2004



With Juventus:
European Super Cup: 1996
Intercontinental Cup: 1996
Serie A champions: 1996/1997, 1997/1998
Italian Super Cup: 1997

With Real Madrid:
UEFA Champions League: 2001/2002
European Super Cup: 2002
Intercontinental Cup: 2002
Spanish League - La Liga champions: 2002/2003

Personal honours:
FIFA World Player of the Year: 1998, 2000, 2003
European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or): 1998

And other records:

• Zizou has got 14 red cards in his career.
• He was suspended for five matches while playing for Juventis in the Champions League match in 2000 for butting a german player.
• He had attacked a Saudi Arabian player in a World Cup 2008 match and was shown the red card.
• He was the first French player to get a red card in World Cup.
• He had punched an opponent during his early career for making fun of his ghetto origins.

Goodbye Zidane

This is one scene in the history of football that a football fan in any part of the world would hate to see. This kind of an end to an illustrious career of a legendry footballer like Zindane is a shameful sight. Zindane who was in good form in this world cup did a great job to guide his team to the final of the world cup. He came back from retirement and the nation had pinned theri hopes on this man. He did well; scored a goal in the last two matches to put his team into winning positions and so did his team. The french loss is sad but Zidane's exit is the saddest thing to have happened to him and his team. What was he thinking when he butted his head against the Materazzi when provoked?

Though it would be unfair to remember a great player like him for a red card he got in the last match of his career in the world cup final, it is inevitable that he will be remembered for this exit. It's sad but inevitable. His glorious career will always be shrouded by this controversial exit. But Zizou you will always be one of the greatest players of the game.